B.P.R.D. Hell On Earth Volume 2: Gods and Monsters (B.P.R.D: Hell on Earth)

This volume of the B.P.R.D. has two distinct storylines.The first starts with railroad security having an altercation with a group stowing away on the trains. The stowaways easily outnumber the two security guards. The stowaways head for a deserted football stadium before reinforcements show up. Their leader is a sixteen year old female named Fenix with seeming precognitive abilities.Flashback to Abe, Kate, and Devon discussing Devon’s issues with Abe. Kate lays it down the law. Devon gets it. If Kate has to make a choice, Devon finishes in second place.Professor O’Donnell interrupts a B.P.R.D meeting and sheds light on what’s been going on in Texas. It’s happened before. Way back when in Hyperborea. The Prof. never even mentions everyone’s favorite barbarian, Conan.Back to the football field, Abe and crew show up as do monsters. It’s a monster invasion but the B.P.R.D manage to kill them. Time to celebrate right? Not so much. Fenix shoots Abe.Time for story two.Card game at the trailer park. Everyone’s favorite pyrokinetic agent, Liz Sherman, comes back to the trailer and ends the game prematurely. Crazy stuff ensues but maybe not that crazy given the location. One resident points a gun at his “old lady.” Liz arrives and finds the “old lady” with bloody hands and her chopped husband transformed into an altar of candles, bloody graffiti, and severed limbs. That’s not the worst of it – most of the other residents are members of the congregation too.Bad news for Liz but she manages to escape.One other big, last panel shocker before we move to Volume Three.

I love that these are in great shape and are shipped quickly. Some of my favorite go-to presents for my husband!

another great entry into the over-arching story. new characters and unexpected events.

After the really promising set up in Vol 1, i just wasn't really feeling this volume.

I'm sure this story will improve with age, however after The Hollow Earth, The Plague of Frogs, etc., so far this fails to excite. Continue to love the characters and art, though.

ARC Provided by NetGalleyHell. A living Hell. That's the best way to describe the current condition of the world. Strange and deadly creatures haunt the landscape and they hunt the humans they encounter. But there are survivors. A strange young woman named Fenix is able to lead a small group of wanderers through danger with what seem to be psychic visions. And B.P.R.D. wants to talk to her. They're still stretched thin with Hellboy and Liz both MIA and in fighting and bickering may lead to the destruction of the team. In other parts of the world strange new and bloody cults have arisen, some practicing the art of human sacrifice. And a former B.P.R.D. agent maybe all that stands in their way.I'm still a bit behind in the B.P.R.D./Hellboy Universe, but I'm quickly catching up and I was excited to have a chance to read this next collection in the series. It's just as action packed as the first one and will have you on the edge of your seat as you wonder what will happen next, not just to Abe and his team, but to the reappearance of a lost agent and the other characters we encounter. It's another solid writing job by Mike and John and I can't wait to see where they take us next in this storyline because it promises to be a thrilling ride.If you're an avid Hellboy/BPRD fan then this is definitely the book for you. But if you haven't read the first volume go and pick that up first then come to this one and be prepared for a wild ride.

The volcano in Houston from the first book seems to have more importance than I first thought where it seems to have transformed the city into a kind of ghost town with mob rule. Abe and Johann head down there to look for a special girl who seems to have a cult following because she foresaw the natural disasters.Not for nothing, but haven't we seen a red-headed girl with psychic powers called Fenix before (or variations on that name)? Don't know why Mike Mignola and John Arcudi went with such as obvious X-Men reference but they pick up the story with Liz Sherman, the other red-head girl with psychic powers (how imaginative).Liz is living in a trailer park dealing with the scarring of her last adventures with BPRD (see "Vol 14: King of Fear") but even life as a recluse won't save her from craziness as a new band of possessed nutjobs start mutilating each other and large numbers of frogs start showing up - again! Again with the frogs storyline... at least I hope they don't, it's played out."Gods and Monsters" is a pretty fun book for the most part despite the questionable choice of character in Fenix, and the frogs thing. The Liz storyline is especially good, I always liked her character and, with a major character supposedly dying, hopefully she'll get more focus in the following books. And anyway, dying in comics is never the end for characters so don't be surprised if they somehow make an impossible recovery. There's hope for this BPRD series yet!

In the second trade paperback of the Hell on Earth story arc Mignola and Arcudi pick up the pace.The "Gods" storyline, originally published in three issues of the series, centres around a teenager girl with visionary abilities. Those saving her and the group of young hobos in her company from getting hunted down by crab-like monsters. Abe, still in conflict with agent Devon, takes the lead in a mission to uncover that mystery. Inbetween the BPRD is confronted with a weird prophecy. Abe's mission ends in a way which will change the future for both Abe and the BPRD.In the second storyline of the trade, the two issues "Monsters" we meet Liz Sherman again. We learn a bit of her whereabouts when a dangerous cult is attracting more and more followers in her surroundings. The story culminates in gruesome events and we see Liz on the run.It is in this trade that we and the BPRD learn that the danger is far from being over. Mysterious things happen, there are still monsters and forces which try to seep into the fabric of reality and transform it. Foreshadows of something creepy become more and more apparent.Gods is pencilled by Guy Davies and his art fits the story as always. His monster design is great and his attention to detail wonderful. Monsters is pencilled by Tyler Crook, who is new to the series. His artwork is very clean, simple and a tad bit cartoonish in places. Too clean for my taste and not dark and uneasy enough to get the feeling of danger and mystery across. Nevertheless he gets the basics right and it is easy enough to follow his layouts.This is one great book which gets things moving. The focus is shifted away from the characters a bit in favour of action. The overall story slowly unfolds and events and characters are thrown into the mix that will make for interesting developments in numerous issues to come.Even with the somewhat lacking artwork and a bit thin storyline in the second part of the trade this is worthwhile reading. For fans anyway.